Simultaneous treatment of crude petroleums or the like and bituminous coals or the like



Apnl 17, 1934. F. s. wolDlcH 1,955,041

SIMULTANEOUS TREATMENT 0F CRUDE PETROLEUMS 0R THE LIKE ANDl BITUMINOUSGOALS OR THE LIKE Filed March 3. 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l 2 n 4 1li 1111ima4E Wlmnmnmummwwwmnmmmmwm .l WJ F 0 M w1 Sl.- |l a i MMU 1 1 mst Z KVmmiui 1 I welll Sure F. s. wolDlcH 1,955,041

Filed March 5. 1932 -2 Sheets-Sheet 2 SIMULT/ANEOUS TREATMENT OF CRUDEPETROLEUMSOR THE LIKE AND BITUMINOUS GOALS OR THE LIKE April 17, 1934.

Patented Apr. 17, 1934 UNITED y STATES SIMULTANEOUS TREATMENT F C R U DE PETROLEUMS 0R THE LIKE AND BIT'UMI- NOUS COALS OR. THE LIKE Francis S.Woidich, Tulsa, Okla.

Application March. 3,

1932, Serial'No. 596,608

In Germany J anuary 4, 1932 7 Claims.

This invention relates to a process and apparatus for obtaininganti-knock motor fuel and oils of high caloriflc value with a highpercentage of finely divided carbon, from liquid fuels such as mineraloil, tar oil, gas oil, heating oil, shale oil and the like, and alsofrom solid fuels with a high percentage of volatile bitumen hydrocarbonconstituents, such as gas coal, gas iiame coal, cannel coal, lignite andthe like.

The process is carried out by introducing the finely ground coal intothe liquid fuel and making an emulsion of coal and oil, with optionalheating of the mixture, in stirring mechanisms, which for this purposemay be provided with a heating jacket. The emulsion accruing from thestirring mechanisms is now further heated, under a pressure varyingaccording to the operating conditions, to a predetermined temperature,and then passed into a separator, in which 2u at the same time itspressure is partially reduced.

The more volatile constituents of the liquid and solid fuel is nowdistilled off, and then passed into a rectifying and` fractionatingplant, in which they are worked upto different fractions. Theconstituents not distilled off in the separator are passed firstover adistillation and re-action column R. T. into a convertenin which inahydrogenous atmosphere and under definite conditions of pressure andtemperature, a selective building up and disintegrating processproceeds, so that further constituents of higher boiling points areconverted into more volatile constituents, while a residual oil remains,having a high percentage -of very finely divided carbon, which canbeburnt in furnaces of any kind as a high grade fuel of high caloriiicvalue.

As compared with the low temperature distillation of bituminous coals,the process according to this invention has the advantage that thebituminous hydrocarbons, in the course of the heating under pressure, gointo solution in the suspending oil, so that they are protected againstpyrogenic decomposition, which, in-the usual low temperaturedistillation processes results in a reduction of the yield of lightmotor fuel, with corresponding increase of the proportion of permanentgases, phenols, and homologues, as well as of pitch.

The efliciency of the process is also increased because the emulsion isa good conductor of heat, in proportion to the solid coal, so that theprocess can be carried out `at lower temperatures and more rapidly thanis the case with the. usual 10W temperature distillation processes..

In addition to this, the temperatures atwhich the bituminoushydrocarbons of the'coal evaporate are lower than in the ordinary lowtemperature-distillation process, in consequence of the high solutionpressure of the'bituminouslhyy drocarbons, as compared With thesuspending and solvent oil, and of the increased vaporization pressureof the hydrocarbons of the solvent oil.

Simultaneously with the decomposition and the dissolving of the carbonbitumen in the suspending oil, there also occurs an extensivecomminution of the fine particles of coal, so that as a result hereofthey distribute themselves in the residual oil in colloidal form,Whereby a new homogeneous and stable fuel-oil product is obtained, whichmay be designated Carbonol.

This product contains about percent. of residual oil of low viscosityand 50 percent. of colloidally distributed carbon, and may be regardedas a refined product of the oil and coal.

Since however this mixture Carbonol is heavier thanwater, and is neithersoluble in, or miscible with water, it can be stored underwater for thepurpose of obviating any risk of fire.

, Under these circumstances the formation of explosive gaseous mixturesin storage is preeluded.

`For heating purposes it admits of being atomized just as well as thefuel oil at present used.

Its combustion is effected entirely Without noise, as contrasted withthe combustion of fuel oil. This yields a short and luminous flame,whereby the transmission is promoted of heat 'by radiation, which inmodern operationsis being more and more'sought after.

Y The good combustion properties of the carbonol also yield thepossibility of burning with a lower excess of air, whereby the eiiciencyof the furnace plant is raised.

Finally in addition to this, under the samey conditions, the quantity ofsteam or energy required for atomization is lower than when ordinaryheating oil is employed.

Besides this high grade heating-oil'v product, there is obtained, on theother hand, a'highly knock-proof motor fuel from the combination of thehighly knock-proof :bituminoushydrocarbons of the coal with the lessknock-proof hydrocarbons of the direct distillation ofthe suspendingoil` and the knock-proof hydrocarbons of the suspending oil crackingprocesswhich is a selective, building up and breaking down process thatoccurs under special conditions.

Thishighly knock-proof motor oil. and is sub- Lil-0 divided according toits constitution and the purpose for which it is to be used into thevarious fractions Bituminol I, Bituminol II, Bituminol III and so forth.

Of these fractions, the light one may be employed in aircraft motors,the medium one in ordinary motors, and the heavy one in Diesel motors.

These Bituminols are high grade refinement products of the bituminouscoal and the mineral oils, which, in the same range of boiling point,exhibit a greater storage stability, as regards losses andresiniiication, and enable motors to be easily started and easilyaccelerated.

Since the products themselves are very knockproof, they can, by mixingthem with fuels that are not knock-proof, convert'the latter intoantiknock fuels with a sufficiently high anti-.knock coefficient.

According to the process of manufacture these Aproducts consist ofdistillation derivatives of the volatile constituents of thecarrier-oil, of less volatile distillation derivates of the carbonbitumen, which possess the greatest solution pressure as compared withthe suspending oil, and of the products of the cracking of the heavyconstituents of the suspending oil and also of the heavy bitumenhydrocarbons dissolved in the suspending oil, and as well as of theproducts of the cracking of the carbon bitumen which is insoluble in thesuspending oil, which originate directly from the coal or are the resultof the exchange action between the molecularly unstable gaseousphase andtheheating oil residue-phase in the converter. l According to what isrequired of the heating oil products, the nature of the raw materialsand the carrying out of the process may be regulated, so thatr it ispossible to obtain, in particular cases, the nished products which havethe properties desired for the Various cases. Y

One example of the invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 shows in elevation and partial section adiagram of the entire plant for carrying out the process according tothe invention.

Figure 2 shows a section on the line XX-YY of Figure 1, and

Figure 3 shows a vertical elevation and partial section of a modiedconstructional form of heater.

As will be seen from Figure 1, the mixture of i coal, of a iinenesscorresponding to a 50 to 150 mesh sieve, and oil preferably prepared ina heated stirring mechanism, and stored in a receiver not shown, passesthrough a pipe c into a pump CP and from there through a pipe c1 into aheat exchanger HE, where it comes into contact with the outside of thetubes. For starting and shutting off the heat exchanger HE valves 21, 22and 23 are provided. Y

From the heat exchanger HE the mixture then passes through pipescz andcs; into the chamber I of the heater CH, through which it flows at sucha high speed as to be in the neighbourhood of turbulence.

The heater consists of three concentric heating tubes, of which theinner tube 1 serves as a gas flue, through which the exhaust gases flowin the direction of the arrow r2, to leave the plant through the passageSF and the chimney ST. The tube 2 is welded at its lower end to a plates1, while at its upper end it is open. With the tube 1, the tube 3 formsat its upper end a chamber a, while at its lower end it is welded to theplate sa.

The result of this is that the mixture of coal and oil, after leavingthe chamber I, first ascends in the annular space between the tubes 1and 2, in counter-current to the combustion-gases flowing in thedirection of the arrow r2, is deflected in the upper chamber u, and thenfalls through the annular space between the tubes 2 and 3, incounter-current to the gases flowing helically and with turbulent motionin the direction of the arrow r1, into the lower chamber o.

The cylindrical jacket s, the bottom plate s2 and the top plate sa,support the brickwork CS, through which the heating element passes. Inconjunction with the plate s1 they form the admission chamber I and thedischarge chamber O for the mixture of coal and oil, which are providedfor cleaning purposes with manholes M1 and M2.

The heating chamber DO provided with an oil burner FB is arrangedtangentially to the heater CH. The result of this is that the gases inthe annular space between the tubes 3 and 4 ascend turbulently andhelically, thereby yielding a high utilization of the heat.

The utilization of heat and the uniform heating are also promoted by thefact that the mixture of coal and oil is introduced tangentially by thepipe c3 into the chamber I. If in addition to this, welded-on spiralsare provided in the annular spaces between the tubes 1 and 2 and ..3

the tubes 2 and 3, as shown in Figure 3, the mixture of coal and oilalso flows through the heating element spirally in an upward directionand in a downwardv direction.

By these measures an uneven heating, which v might lead todecompositions, is prevented; deposits of coke are therefore also madeimpossible, and it has even been found that the particles of coalproduce a scouring effect, so that by them Athe surfaces are polished asa mirror.

, A separation of the gas-vap0ur mlase in the heating elementis notpossible under these circumstances. Accordingly any overheating thereofis also precluded, and a transmission of heat is obtained which is muchgreater than that obtained with the usual heaters.

The heater CH` may be constructed and arranged as shownin Figure 1, oras shown in Figure 3, as a separate and independently red heater. In thelatter case there is slipped over the i heating element CH a hood Clii,which, like the element CH, consists of three casings 1, 2 and 3. Bymeans ofl intermediate plates two chambers are formed, exactly as in thecase of the heating element CI-I, namely an admission 3 chamber I and adischarge chamber O. The operation carried on in this preheater iseifected byr passing the mixture of coal and oil first into the lowerchamber I, and from this, through the heating element CH in the mannerdescribed, 1,5 into the discharge chamber O, from which the mixture thenpasses through a connecting pipe into the admission chamber I', and fromhere into the heating element CH', which it leaves again by way of thedischarge chamber O.

In this case the heating element CH of Figas'will be readily understood,if it were heated f instability, before its enq before fixed gases wereavailable. It would therefore have to work until that moment as a steamsuperheater. The combustion chamber DO, already mentioned, serves forthe production of the heating gases by which the temperature of themixture oi' coal and oil preheated in the preheater HE is brought to atemperature of from 315 to 375 C., in the heating element CH, accordingto the nature of the mixture and the products to be obtained.

As will be gathered from Figures l and 2, the preheater HE is chargedwith hot residual oil from the converter, which iiows from the residuepan 6 at the bottom of the converter, through the pipe 12 into theseparator Sp and from here through the pipe 13 into the pump RP, fromwhich it is forced through the tubes of the preheater, which it thenleaves by the pipe 14. For the purpose of regulating the admission tothis preheater, valves 15, 16, 17 and 2() are provided.

The combustion chamber DO is equipped with a grating Ch, by whichcomplete combustion is to be attained. By the reproof material CS, onthe one hand, and the ireproof covering 26, 27 on the other hand, adouble jacket is formed with an annular space 25, through which the airentering at CA iows, for the purpose of cooling the ireproof material,whereupon it then enters, in a preheated condition, through slotsprovided in the end wall of the combustion chamber.

The mixture oi" coal and oil, heated under pressure in the VpreheatersHE and CH up to the required dissolving temperature, passes, aiterleaving the heating element CH, into the pipe c4, and, after partialexpansion in a reducing valve, not shown, passes tangentially into theseparator D, which is interposed on the way between a lower distillationand re-action column RT and an upper rectiiication column R1 Ti with adephlegmator D1. Now in the separator D the mixture is partiallyexpanded, and the vapour phase separated from the liquid oil and coalphase by impact and centrifugal action. The former 'then ascends in thetowers R1 T1 and D1, in which the constituents of higher boiling pointare separated out, while the fractions of lower boiling point passthrough the pipe V2 into the rectifying and fractionating plant MRTiDz-to be here fractionated into three iinished products.

The mixture of coal and oil separated in the separator D from thevapour-phase, ows, however, with the fractions iiowing down and out ofthe towers R1 Ti and Di, in a iinely divided form, over the conical driprims m to mi, in countercurrent to the hot gases and vapours ascendingfrom the converter TST which enter at the bottorn of the reaction towerRT through the pipe V1. The volatile bitumen hydrocarbons contained inthe suspending oil and dissolved therein are hereby vaporized anddistilled off, so that a vapour-phase composed of different kinds ofhydrocarbons passes into the dephlegmator D1, in which the heavier andunwanted hydrocarbons are condensed and flow back in a liquid conditionby way of the towers R1 T1 and RT, the separator RS, the pipe '51 andthe distributor d, into the converter TST.

In the converter the liquid mixture flows over the individual trays Z1to 12o, which are welded to the conical central heating casing 4, whichis flanged at its lower end to the outer steel casing 7, which in itsturn carries at its upper end a cover 8, with the distributor d,likewise iianged. These trays are iilled with metals of continuouslyincreasing melting point, upon which, as already ing the downward flowof the liquid over the inclined side walls of the trays.

By this process, which proceeds in a hydrogenous atmosphere and underadjustable pressure conditions, at a temperature which increases fromtray to tray in a downward direction, the

heavy hydrocarbons of the suspending oil and ofthe absorbed anddissolved heavy hydrocarbons of the carbon bitumen, are converted intothe volatile hydrocarbons of low molecular weight of the motor fuel,which are distinguished by high anti-knock properties, and theanti-knock properties of the hydrocarbons of the carbon bitumen, whichare already high on account of the high carbon hydrogen ratio, are stillfurther improved by this selective building up and breaking down processof the oil complex as a whole.

From the converter TST, the temperature of which is regulated by athermostat T1 controlling the burner FB, the gases and vapours ascendand iiow in counter-current to the descending liquid through the towersRT, RiTi and D1, and flow into the, rectifying and iractionating columnMRT with the dephlegmator D2, which is equipped with a thermostatregulating the water cooling so iar as said gases and vapors arevolatile at the temperaturev prevailing in the dephlegmator Di, whichmay vary in diiierent cases, and is accurately regulated by a thermostatcontrolling the water circulation in the dephlegmator D1.

Here in the column MRT they are separated into three fractions, forexample, a light fraction, a medium fraction diiiering in volatility anda heavy fraction.

The light fraction, which is particularly suitable ior operatingaircraft motors, leaves the dephlegmator D2 inthe forni of vapour andthen passes through the pipe V3 into the coolers FC in which it islqueed, while the permanent gases produced during the cracking processare separated in the gas separator GS and leave the plant by way of theregulating valve rv, which is adjusted according to the working pressuredesired in the plant. Leaving the cooler FC, the light fraction thenpasses through the pipe mi provided with a valve e1 into the collectingtank A1, which is equipped with a gage glass g1 and a pressure gage pi,and from here through a valve oi, in which it is expanded to atmosphericpressure, and through the pipe r1 into the main reservoir.

The medium fraction, intended for ordinary motors, passes through theextraction plate E of the rectifying and ractionating column MRT, intothe proportional stream divider SD, from there by way of the pipe m2provided with the valves b2, c2, h2 and hi, into the sub-cooler DC, andfrom there into the collecting tank A2, with gage glass c2 and pressuregage p2, out of which it then flows by way of the fioat valve O2, and inan expanded condition, through the pipe r2, into the main reservoir.

The heavy fraction, which is suitable for Dieselengines, flows, on thecontrary, from the bottoni of the iractionating column MRT through thepipe equipped with the valves bi, h1, h3 and c3 into the sub-cooler DC,and from here into the collecting tank A3, with gage glass g3 andpressure gage p3, out of which it passes by way of the float valve o3 inan expanded condition, into the pipe r3 and and from there into the mainreservoir.

The permanent gas, accruing in the nal cooler FC, iiows through the gasseparator 'GS and the pipe rg into the compressor RC. From 'there the'excess gas is forced through the regulating valve rc into a collectingtank, not shown, from which it can be supplied, after being previouslypurified by being passed over activated 'carbon -or Vthe like, to agasometer or to vthe place where it is vto be used. The other part ofthe gas is forced through the pipe wz from the compressor RC into a`superheater RH, in which itis heated up to a temperature of molecularinstability until it may lpartially decompose. It then passes out of thesuperheater through the pipe Tg3 and the distributor 10 into the residuepan 6, and from there into the converter TST. Since the gas inlet nozzle'is weldedon tangentially to the pan, the gas entering the liquidresidue sets the latter in vortex motion, until the gas itself escapes,eddying, into the annular chamberof the converter, which it traversesspirally in an upward direction, a synthetic building-up process beingeffected in conjunction with the molecularly unstable carbon oil phases.Since the pressure in the converter must vary according to the nature ofthe raw materials and the desired constitution 'of the ultimateproducts, the gas enters the converter at different pressures indifferent cases, these pressures being regulated by the regulating valverv.

As already mentioned, the superheater CH, which renders continuousoperation possible, may be employed as a gas heater, at least so far asa heating of the gas to a temperature of molecular instability comesinto question.

It on the contrary, a rise of temperature right into the region ofextensive moleculark decomposition with separation of hydrogen andcarbon is aimed at, the directly heated superheater RH is to beprovided, two superheaters then being employed, of which one is inoperation while the other is heating up. These superheaters may beequipped with a grating of rebricks, according to the air heating systemknown in blast furnace operation. By means `of heating gases which areproduced by burning gas or oil and which escape through the chimney stafter leaving the superheater, the superheater is first heated to a redheat, whereupon it is hermetically sealed, and the gases are forced inby the compressor RC. When the temperature of the iireproof material isno longer high enough, a change is made to the second superheater, sothat the heating period begins, whereupon this series of operations isrepeated afresh. The heated gas then passes, as already described, intothe residue pan and into the converter, in which case a furtherstabilizing colloidal distribution of the coal carbon in the residualoil is effected, a further cracking can be brought about, land thesynthetic building up re-actions proceed.

The residual oil remaining in the residue pan 6, which contains about 50per cent. by weight of colloidally distributed carbon, then flows as thenished product Carbonol through the pipe 12 into the separator Sp, andfrom there through the pipe 13 to the pump RP, which forces it throughthe valves 20 and 15 into the preheater HE, in which the crude mixtureis preheated. From there it nally ows to a collecting tank, not shown,through the valve 16 and the pipe 14.

If, however, the residual oil owing to the pump RP does not comply kinits constitution with the requirements necessary in the finishedproduct, it is returned through the pipe 18, the valve 19, the pipe ciand the re-action tower RT into the converter TST, and the pan 6, to bethen led away, as a :finished product complying with the requirements,through the pipe 14, and this, vby suitably adjusting the valves 20 and19, can be effected either continuously or interruptedly.

It need hardly be emphasized that the process according to the invention-is in no sense limited to the treatment of the aforementioned 'rawmaterials. The apparatus lfor carrying it out Iis also not limited tothe plant hereinbe'fore described and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings.

In particular, the ash content of the fuels, which yunder somecircumstances may be high, does not stand in the way of carrying out theprocess. On the contrary it has been found that the ash may underspecial conditions act as a Vcatalyst accelerating the conversion.Should the presence of ash not be desired, however, it can easily beseparated out at any time. If the con` centrated oil and ash mixtureseparated 4out is then mixed with water, the ash becomes suspended inthe water, so that it can be removed along with the water, while theseparated oil remains behind and can be returned to the plant. At thesame time there is produced an oil carbon residual product poor in ash,Carbonol, which can be obtained by this rening process from a coalcontaining a high percentage of ash.

Through the extraction valves c1, 'e2 and es the Bituminols can bere-circulated into the system in a wholly or partially continuous mannerfor the purpose of regulating the equilibrium, or interruptedly forre-conditioning purposes, by the return siphons t2, t3 and t4, throughRS and t1, particularly when they do not comply exactly with therequirements, in the same manner as the Carbonol can be re-circulated bythe pump RP.

Without limiting the process to any set of indications and operatingdata, the following specifications are given as an illustration fortheoperation of the process.

Approximate analysis of a typical average bi- The solvent-carrier-oilmay be a topped crudeoil of asphaltic base, designated as a navy-fueloilof a specic gravity: 0.875 or 30 B. gravity with a viscosity of 125Saybolt seconds at 25 C. of the following fractional composition:

Denning temperature lltlllgg l Percent 130 t0 225 C- 1. 2 225 to 250 C5. 0 25() to 275 C- 14. 5 275 to 300 C. 20.0 300 to 325 C. 22. 0 325t0350 C. 30. 0 Residue 5. 3 Loss 2, 0

At normal temperature this coal may be ground at equal ratio of coal andoil by weight in a wetmill, which may also be heatable for the eventualreduction of the viscosity of the oil to obtain 'lil the best resultsand milling-eiciency, to a iineness of from 100 to 200 mesh, or the coalmay be ground dry to said neness and be agitated into a preheated oil,or the agitator may also be heatable for proper mechanical suspension ofthe oil.

Since the oil has a greater wetting capacity to the coal than to theash, a continuous operation will then produce a concentratedoil-ash-phase which can be extracted selectively from the mixture, andthrough treatment with hot water, this concentrated oil-ash-phase may beseparated into an Aash-water-phase for discard and into an oilphasewhich returns to the process-cycle.

Those constituents of the ash which have potential catalytic propertieshowever, like ferrieoxide, chrome-oxide, aluminum-chloride, etc., may beselectively separated from the oil-ashphase and returned with therecovered oil to the process cycle as described, though it has beenfound, that these catalyzing constituents of the ash pass mostly overwith the coal-oil-mixture.

The coal-oil-mixture is then taken from a storage-tank, which may beinsulated against heat-loss, and which may have proper means to `keepthe ccal-oil-mixture in uniform stabilization, while in intermediarystorage, by the process-cycle pump and discharged under turbulent nowthrough the preheating heat-exchanging devices of the process, bycooling thereby the extracted products, like Barbonol as shown in thedrawings, and is then heated in thin-layer double-heated, turbulent,counter-current flow to the heating medium, which may also be indirectlyheated, to a digesting temperature of 300 to 350 C. under aself-generated pump-pressure in the system of from 7 kg. to l5 kg. or125 to 225 lbs. per square inch.

After having reached said temperature under rapid turbulent flow, themixture should be kept under said predigesting temperatures of from 15to minutes, by allowing the mixture, after leaving the rapid turbulentheater to flow through socalled digesting or soaking tubes, in which theturbulent iiow is kept up, which tubes are to be protected againstheat-loss by ,"either placing them into a flue through which passwaste-gases of a Vtemperature from 260 to 371 C., or by properheat-insulations which are not shown in the drawings for simplicityssake.

The thus pre-digested coal-oil-mixture is now discharged underconcomitant pressure drop of from to 100 lbs. (3.35 kg. to 6.7 kg. intoa centrifugal impact separator midways the fractionation orrectification tower and the down-filming reaction-tower, for theseparation of the vaporphase from the liquid coal-oil-phase, producedthrough the pre-digesting heating and the pressure-drop, causing rapidvaporization and distillation as described in the application.

The residual coal-oil-phase plus the rei-luxphase from the dephlegmatorof the fractionating column now passes downward by filming gravity ilowover the reaction-tower to the solvent-distilling-cracking converter ofthe process, where the temperature is progressively and stepwiseincreased to between 400 C. and 450 C.

The coal-oil-mixture undergoing subsequently and alternatively solvent,distilling and cracking steps with disintegrating and integratingconver- 'sion steps produced'by the reactive interaction of there-cycled hydrogenous gas-phase which has been heated on its returncycle to the process to a temperature of molecular instability andpartial decomposition, reaching temperatures of from The sulphur-phaseof the coal will only partly pass over with the gas-vapor-phase, whereit may be eliminated by scrubbing the residual gases with caustic sodaor the like, whereas the greatest part of the sulphur will stay with thedispersed coal in the CarbonoL If the coal allows a total recovery of30% of the total 35% bitumen-content, according to the analysis of thecoal, then the carrier-solvent-oil-phase may be converted intobituminols to the extent of: 30 plus 5% moisture, plus 3% ash, plus 0.4%sulphur=38.4% or approximately 39 to40%, by weight, equal toapproximately 50%, by volume, of the original carrier-oil, if theresidual coal-oil-phase, as Carbonol is to be composed of approximately50%, by weight, of colloidal carbon and of 50%, by weight, of oil.

The coal-oil-ratid by weight, of the original mixture to be convertedmay therefore change between considerable limits up and down, asillustrated on this particular specific coal-oil-mixture, according tothe specic composition of the primary material, forming thecharging-stock, for which consideration, only the analysis of the coaland the oil used are the deciding factors in which proportion they canbe mixed, depending in addition upon the chemical nature of the relativecornponente.

Due to the complexity of the materials for the charging stock, thetemperature, pressures, pressure-drop, ratios of coal and oil-mixturesare subject to wide variations, and can only be determined by laboratorytests and operating experience, based on averaging conditions and underthe influence of the mass-reaction factors, which are only disclosed inindustrial application.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of saidinvention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declarethat what I claim istl. A process for simultaneous distillation ofliquid and solid hydrocarbons of the type of mineral oil and coal, whichconsists in forming an emulsion of coal-dust and oil, preheating theemulsion under agitation, then gradually heating the emulsion underpressure to a temperature sufficient to volatilize the most volatileconstituents when the pressure is reduced, then separating under reducedpressure the more volatile constituents from the liquid mixture, furtherheating the residual constituents of said mixture at graduallyincreasing temperatures to convert said constituents into lower boilingconstituents, separating the vapors and finally rectifying andliquefying said vapors, thereby producing liquid fuel of differentgrades.

2. A process as in claim 1 in which the gradual heating of the emulsionis conducted in thin, concentric, annular Zones and is passed in thinlms in said zones countercurrently to a heating medium.

3. A process as in claim 1 in which the preheated emulsion is introducedtangentially into the zone of admission. Y

4. A process as in claim 1 in which combustion gas for heating saidzones is led in a helical path around the zones.

5. A process as in claim 1 in which the residual constituents of theemulsion are re-circulated in the process after the separation of themore volatile vapors, and brought in contact with metals of differentand gradually increasing temperatures.

6. An apparatus for production of motor fuel from a mixture of liquidand solid hydrocarbons, comprising a preheater for said mixture adaptedto make an emulsion thereof, a secondary heater consisting of concentriccylinders form-ing between them thin, annular zones connected in seities', means for delivering said emulsion into the inner zone, helicalrelements.. in said zones adapted te create a helical flow of theemulsion throughA said Zones, and means for introducing heating gas;

lar; zones. connected in seriesmeans for delivering said mixture in. theform of an emulsion to the rst of said zones., means for introducingheatingy gas for indirect heat exchange with said emulsion in the zones,superimposed trays exterior to saidy tubular members within the heater,said trays containing metals of different melting points, and means forrecrculating the residual constituents of the emulsion after separationof the more volatile vapors, thereby causing said residual constituentsto contact with said metals in their order from the lower to the highermelting points.

FRANCIS S. WOIDICI-Il lOO;

